The Senator representing Zamfara central senatorial district and governorship aspirant, Kabiru Marafa, Thursday, aligned himself with the position of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, barring the state chapter of the All Progressive Congress, APC, from fielding both governorship and senatorial candidates for the 2019 general elections.
It would be recalled that the INEC boss, Yakubu Mahmood following the electoral timetable, as derived affirmed that the state APC had lost the opportunity to conduct primaries and produce candidates for the said elective positions in the state.
But the APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomohole disagreed with the electoral umpire, saying there were consensus candidates for the elections.
In a swift reaction in Abuja, Marafa refuted Oshiomhole’s claim and asserted that there was neither election nor consensus by the aspirants.
In his words, “I read the letter from INEC where they quoted some sections of the law that influenced their position. I also read the response made by the APC National Chairman. I want to believe the chairman was misled by the APC electoral committee that came to Zamfara.
“But as a stakeholder who was present and witnessed the whole process that happened, there was no election in Zamfara on the Saturday October 7, 2018. Also, there was no consensus from anybody or by anybody. So, the APC electoral committee reported in the contrary, I think that was absolutely wrong.
“I always stand by the side of the truth. I want to say the truth even if it is against me.
“I’m an APC member to the core and, I am still with the APC, notwithstanding that the chances are becoming bleak, may be for me as a politician. But I believe in the party. But if the party does anything wrong, I should have the courage to say this thing is wrong.
“If the party has any way within the law to fill any candidate, I will be happy.
“But when the issues are based on a wrong foundation and you force any consensus as being claimed when there was none, there is going to be a revolt that there was no consensus and, anybody has the right to go to court.
“By and large, the only thing I saw wrong in the letter is the assertion that there was a consensus. And there was no consensus.
“We are gubernatorial aspirants but some people stepped down. For the remaining five aspirants, there was no consensus till the end of the exercise.
“The truth of the matter is that the APC electoral committee tried to achieve a consensus among the aspirants for the governorship and senatorial aspirants but the two factions of the party could not agree”.
When grilled if has the option to dump the APC for the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, as being reported by some dailies, he said, “if we cannot field any candidates for the reasons as stated, it means we cannot. Any attempt to do otherwise, I think will put the party in a more precarious situation which I think is avoidable.
“So, if we are not allowed to do it, we can look at other options. But there are those that don’t have any options. We can stay around for another four years and learn the other side of politics.
“Our constitution doesn’t say only one party should go for the general elections. If I am in APC, are you saying going into election on the platform of another political party means working against the APC? It is my constitutional right”.
The lawmaker, however, said the problem in the state was about gross negligence on the part of the state government in protecting lives and property of the citizens.
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